Hair curler with adjustable torque

ABSTRACT

A hair curler with adjustable torque includes a working portion for connected with a hair roller, a driving device for driving the working portion to rotate, a circuit board for controlling the driving device, a control portion connected with the circuit board to make the driving device drive the working portion to rotate via the circuit board, a torque detecting device connected to the working portion to detect the torque of the working portion and to send it to the circuit board, a torque display device connected with the torque detecting device for displaying the value of torque, a torque setting portion connected with the circuit board for setting a predetermined torque. When the detected torque reaches the predetermined value, the circuit board makes the driving device drive the working portion to stop rotating so as to prevent hair from over-rotated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hair curler, more especially to ahair curler whose maximum torque is adjustable.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Conventionally, hair perm is processed by applying a perm agent on thehair and twining the hair on a hair roller followed by heating the hairroller. An adjustable hair roller is disclosed in patent TW M374774. Thehair roller has plural plates which are expandable and resumable. Thehair is extended and shaped by the expanded plates. However, theappropriate tension of hair is decided by the health condition of hair.Damaged hair may be further damaged or fracture under higher tension. Onthe contrary, healthy hair may be applied under higher tension. Hairstylists without sufficient experiences are unable to apply appropriatetension to the hair.

To improve the conventional hair roller, a hair curler with torquedisplay is disclosed in patent TW 1365055. A rotation tool forconnecting with the hair roller is included. When the rotation toolrotates, the plates of the hair roller move outward or inward to expandor resume. In addition, a torque detecting device and a torque displaydevice are also included to detect the torque of twined hair and toinform the user. However, the user still has to judge when to stop therotation tool by himself Thus, damage of hair resulted by over-rotationis still possible. Besides, a general consumer lacking of experience isdifficult to operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a hair curlerwith adjustable torque, whose maximum torque can be adjusted.

To achieve the above and other objects, a hair curler with adjustabletorque of the present invention includes a working portion, a drivingdevice, a circuit board, a control portion, a torque detecting device, atorque display device, and a torque setting portion.

The working portion is adapted for being disposed with a hair roller.The driving device drives the working portion to rotate via adecelerating device. The circuit board controls the driving device. Thecontrol portion is connected with the circuit board to control thedriving portion to drive the working portion to rotate about a firstdirection, about a reverse second direction, or stop rotating. Thetorque detecting device is connected with the working portion to detecta torque of the working portion about the first direction and to send avalue of the torque detected to the circuit board. The torque displaydevice is connected with the torque detecting device to display a valueof the torque detected by the torque detecting device. The torquesetting portion is connected with the circuit board to set off apredetermined value of torque. When a value of torque about the firstdirection received by the circuit board from the torque detecting devicereaches the predetermined value of torque, the circuit board triggersthe driving device to drive the working portion to stop rotating aboutthe first direction.

The present invention will become more obvious from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferredembodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a stereogram of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a breakdown drawing of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial profile of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a breakdown drawing of a hair roller and an outer cover of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a profile of a hair roller and an outer cover of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6, the hair curler with adjustable torqueof the present invention includes a working portion 1, a driving device2, a circuit board 3, a control portion 4, a torque detecting device, atorque display device 5, a torque setting portion 6, a hair roller 7,and an outer cover 8.

The working portion 1, the driving device 2, the circuit board 3, thecontrol portion 4, the torque detecting device, the torque displaydevice 5, the torque setting portion 6 are received in a housing. Theworking portion 1 is adapted for the hair roller 7 to connect with. Inthe present embodiment, the working portion 1 has a hexagonal hole, andthe hair roller 7 has a hexagonal column to mate with the hexagonal holeso that the working portion 1 can bring the hair roller 7 to rotate.Specifically, the working portion 1 rotates at a constant speed. Thedriving device 2 drives the working portion 1 to rotate via adecelerating device. In the present embodiment, the driving device 2includes a motor. The circuit board 3 controls the operation of thedriving device 2. The control portion 4 is connected with the circuitboard 3 to make the driving device 2 to drive the working portion 1 torotate about a first direction, a reverse second direction, or to stoprotating via the circuit board 3. In the present embodiment, the controlportion 4 includes a rocker switch 41 having a rotation switch 411 and areverse rotation switch 412 at two opposite ends thereof. When therocker switch 41 is long pressed, the power of the hair curler isswitched on. When the rotation switch 411 is pressed, the workingportion 1 is driven to rotate about the first direction. When thereverse rotation switch 412 is continuously pressed, the working portion1 is driven to rotate about the second direction.

The torque detecting device is connected with the working portion 1 todetect the value of torque of the working portion 1 around the firstdirection, and then sends it to the circuit board 3. The torque displaydevice 5 is connected with the torque detecting device to show the valueof torque detected by the torque detecting device. In the presentembodiment, the torque display device 5 includes a plurality of LEDlights 51. The number of the LED lights 51 which light on isproportional to the detected value of torque. Thus, the value of torquecan be read from the number of the LED lights which light on. However,the torque display device can be any kind of display device, such as LEDdisplay. The torque setting portion 6 is connected with the circuitboard 3 for setting a predetermined value of torque. When the circuitboard 3 receives the detected value of torque reaching the predeterminedvalue of torque, the circuit board 3 makes the driving device 2 drivethe working portion 1 to stop rotating about the first direction. In thepresent embodiment, the torque setting portion 6 includes a settingbutton 61 and a display device 62. The predetermined value of torque canbe adjusted by pressing the setting button 61, and the predeterminedvalue of torque is shown on the display device 62, such as an LCDdisplay.

The hair roller 7 is adapted for hair to twine on and is coaxiallydisposed on the working portion 1. The hair roller 7 includes aplurality of shells 71 and a conical pressing element 72. The shells 71are arranged about an axial direction. Each shell 71 is formed with arecess, and the recesses form a conical space 711. The pressing element72 is received in the conical space 711 and is linked-up with theworking portion 1. More specifically, the pressing element 72 is screwedto a terminal end of the hair roller 7, and the inner diameter of theconical space 711 increases from an end near the working portion 1toward an opposite end away from the working portion 1. When the workingportion 1 rotates about the first direction, the pressing element 72also rotates with respect to the hair roller 7 so that the pressingelement 72 moves along the axial direction. Due to the conical space711, the moving pressing element 72 pushes the shells 71 outward to makethem move away from each other. Thus, the outer diameter of the hairroller 7 is increased. On the contrary, when the working portion 1rotates about the second direction, the pressing element 72 moves towardan opposite direction to make the shells 71 move toward each other.Thus, the outer diameter of the hair roller 7 is reduced. Preferably,the hair roller 7 further includes at least one elastic ring 73, and theshells 71 are formed with annular grooves on the outer surface thereoffor the elastic ring to be embedded in. The elastic ring 73 makes theshells 71 tend to move toward each other to facilitate the expanding andresuming

The outer cover 8 includes two clamping elements 81 which are pivotallyconnected to each other. A gap is formed between the two clampingelements 81 at an end of the outer cover 8 opposite to the pivot axis.Each clamping element 81 is bending and arc-shaped. An adjusting piece82 is detachably disposed on the outer cover 8 near the pivot axis. Whenthe adjusting piece 82 is removed, the two clamping elements 81 are ableto pivot a larger angle to make a maximum width of the gap larger. Whenthe adjusting piece 82 has a larger length, the two clamping elements 81are able to pivot a smaller angle to make a maximum width of the gapsmaller. The outer cover 8 is sleeved onto the hair roller 7. Morespecifically, the hair is twined on the hair roller 7, and then theouter cover 8 is further sleeved onto the hair roller 7. For hair roller7 of different size or varied amount of hair, the maximum size of theouter cover 8 can be alternated by the adjusting piece 82. In otherwords, the adjusting piece 82 becomes a hindrance of the expanding ofthe clamping elements 81 to restrict the space of clamping. On thecontrary, when the adjusting piece 82 is removed or shorter adjustingpiece 82 is used, the hindrance is reduced, so the space of clamping islarger for receiving bigger hair roller 7 or allowing the hair roller 7to expand more. In the present embodiment, notches are formed on the twoclamping elements 81 for the adjusting piece 82 to be disposed on.Besides, the adjusting piece 82 is resilient preferably.

In use, the hair is twined on the hair roller 7, and then the outercover 8 is sleeved onto the hair roller 7. And then, connect the workingportion 1 with the hair roller 7. The other end of the hair roller 7 ispositioned by a positioning element 9, such as a polygonal column, sothat the hair roller 7 may not be rotated when the outer cover 8 isexpanded. Set the predetermined value of torque with the setting button61, and press the rotation switch 411 to drive the working portion 1 torotate about the first direction. When the detected value of torquereaches the predetermined value of torque, the circuit board 3 triggersthe working portion 1 to stop rotating to prevent the hair fromdamaging. After the process of perming is completed, connect the workingportion 1 to the hair roller 7, and continuously press the reverserotation switch 412 to drive the working portion 1 to rotate about thesecond direction so as to resume the hair roller 7. And then, the haircan be removed from the hair roller 7. In a preferred embodiment,several predetermined values of torque can be set by the manufacturer,and the user can adjust the torque following the user's manual.

In conclusion, a desired value of torque can be set according to thehair condition or needs. For example, if the hair is damaged, a lowervalue of torque is desired. If the hair is healthy and a betterperformance of perming is required, a higher value of torque is desired.The user doesn't have to be aware of the current torque to stop therotation manually, and the over-rotation is prevented. Besides, theouter cover can be used on hair rollers in different sizes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair curler with adjustable torque, including:a working portion, for being disposed with a hair roller; a drivingdevice, driving the working portion to rotate via a decelerating device;a circuit board, controlling the driving device; a control portion,connected with the circuit board to control the driving portion to drivethe working portion to rotate about a first direction, about a reversesecond direction, or stop rotating; a torque detecting device, connectedwith the working portion to detect a torque of the working portion aboutthe first direction and to send a value of the torque detected to thecircuit board; a torque display device, connected with the torquedetecting device to display a value of the torque detected by the torquedetecting device; a torque setting portion, connected with the circuitboard to set off a predetermined value of torque, the circuit boardtriggering the driving device to drive the working portion to stoprotating about the first direction when a value of torque about thefirst direction received by the circuit board from the torque detectingdevice reaches the predetermined value of torque.
 2. The hair curlerwith adjustable torque of claim 1, wherein the torque setting portionincludes a setting button and a display device, the predetermined valueof torque is adjustable by pressing the setting button, thepredetermined value of torque is shown on the display device.
 3. Thehair curler with adjustable torque of claim 1, wherein the torquedisplay device includes a plurality of LED lights, a number of the LEDlights which are on is proportional to the value of torque detected bythe torque detecting device.
 4. The hair curler with adjustable torqueof claim 1, wherein the working portion has a constant rotating speed.5. The hair curler with adjustable torque of claim 1, further includes ahair roller, the hair roller being coaxially disposed on the workingportion and including a plurality of shells and a pressing element, theshells being arranged around an axial direction, each shell being formedwith a recess on an inner wall thereof, the recesses forming a conicalspace, the pressing element being located in the conical space and beinglinked up with the working portion, the pressing element moving in theconical space along the axial direction to make the shells move awayfrom each other so as to expand an outer diameter of the hair rollerwhen the working portion rotates about the first direction, the pressingelement moving toward an opposite direction to make the shells movetoward each other so as to reduce the outer diameter of the hair rollerwhen the working portion rotates about the second direction.
 6. The haircurler with adjustable torque of claim 5, wherein the hair rollerfurther includes at least one elastic ring, the shells are formed withannular grooves on outer surfaces thereof for the elastic ring to beembedded in, the elastic ring makes the shells tend to move toward eachother.
 7. The hair curler with adjustable torque of claim 5, furtherincluding an outer cover for being disposed outside the hair roller, theouter cover including two clamping elements which are pivotallyconnected to each other, a gap being formed between the two clampingelements at an end of the outer cover opposite to a pivot axis of thetwo clamping elements, each clamping element being bending andarc-shaped, an adjusting piece being detachably disposed on the clampingelements near the pivot axis, the two clamping elements being able topivot a larger angle to make a maximum width of the gap larger when theadjusting piece is removed, the two clamping elements being able topivot a smaller angle to make a maximum width of the gap smaller whenthe adjusting piece has a larger length.
 8. The hair curler withadjustable torque of claim 1, wherein the control portion includes arocker switch having a rotation switch and a reverse rotation switch attwo opposite ends thereof, a power supply is switched on when the rockerswitch is long pressed, the working portion is driven to rotate aboutthe first direction until the value of torque detected by the torquedetecting device reaches the predetermined value of torque when therotation switch is pressed, the working portion is driven to rotateabout the second direction when the reverse rotation switch iscontinuously pressed.